Related FP coverage: india-duty-free-gsp-plus-threat-october-2026
Source: The Express Tribune, “Task force asks industry for export proposals”, published 25 October 2026, 02:56 PKT. https://tribune.com.pk/story/2636738/task-force-asks-industry-for-export-proposals
The Task Force on Export and Industrial Enhancement has asked industry representatives to submit concrete proposals for lifting exports, naming leather, sports goods, cutlery and carpets as priority sectors.
Prime Minister’s Adviser on Industries and Production Haroon Akhtar Khan issued the invitation as he chaired a meeting of the task force in Islamabad on Saturday. The meeting brought together Joint Secretary Freedoon Akram Sheikh and representatives of leather, sports goods, cutlery, carpet and other export-oriented industries, according to an official statement from the Ministry of Industries and Production.
The adviser said the government wanted proposals that deal with sector-specific challenges, improve productivity, raise product quality and open new international markets.
Why the task force was set up
The task force was constituted to discuss measures for boosting exports, reviving industrial activity and promoting sustainable economic growth. Its brief covers identifying the challenges industries face, exploring new opportunities for growth and developing practical measures to strengthen export performance.
Haroon Akhtar Khan told the meeting that meaningful consultation with industry representatives was essential for developing effective and result-oriented policies. He said a series of consultative meetings was being held, with further engagements planned, so that the concerns, recommendations and practical experience of the business community were considered in policymaking.
Participants were assured of government support for initiatives aimed at industrial development and export growth. The adviser said the government would continue working with the private sector to identify bottlenecks, facilitate businesses and develop policies responding to the actual needs of industry.
The four priority sectors
The adviser singled out leather, sports goods, cutlery and carpets as sectors offering significant opportunities for increasing exports, generating employment and strengthening the national economy.
The choice points beyond Pakistan’s dominant textile trade. Feature Pakistan reported on 25 October that textile exports reached about $18 billion in FY26, with nearly 89 percent of textile lines covered under the European Union’s GSP+ scheme. Leather, sports goods, cutlery and carpets are the classic export clusters of Sialkot, Gujranwala and Karachi, long established in world markets but smaller in scale than textiles.
By naming them as priorities, the task force is signalling that export growth must come from widening the base, not only from the textile sector that already dominates the export basket.
What industry is being asked to deliver
The invitation is specific. The task force wants actionable proposals, not general complaints: what holds each sector back, what would raise productivity, what would improve quality, and which new markets can be opened.
That matters because Pakistan’s export debate often stalls between government announcements and industry grievances. A written set of sector proposals gives the task force something concrete to turn into policy, and gives industry a record against which to measure whether its concerns were addressed.
The adviser said the establishment of the task force was itself an initiative aimed at identifying the challenges industries face and developing measures to strengthen export performance. He added that export growth and industrial expansion remained government priorities.
What happens next
Further consultative meetings are planned, and the task force will now wait for industry submissions. The test will be whether the proposals move from meeting rooms into policy changes on costs, quality certification and market access, the three areas where Pakistani exporters most often say they lose ground to competitors.
For the four priority sectors, the invitation is also a chance to set their own agenda. Leather, sports goods, cutlery and carpet makers have distinct needs, from raw material supply to compliance with buyer standards, and a single export policy rarely fits all four. The proposals they submit will show whether the consultation produces sector-specific answers or another round of general promises.
